This application claims the priority of 198 41 103.0-21, filed Sep. 9, 1998, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a hard-top vehicle with a front-roof part, a rear-roof part which is provided with a fixed rear window, lateral main links for moving the front-roof part and rear-roof part, and lateral vehicle pillars which are connected to the main links.
Hard-top vehicles are described, for example, in DE 44 45 944 C1 and DE 196 34 511 C1. Hard-top vehicles of a similar type are also known from DE 40 10 276 C2 and DE 91 11 802 U1.
Up until now, there have been two different methods of stowing away the roof structure in a hard-top vehicle. In a straightforward manner, pivoting about a main point of rotation is carried out such that the front-roof part and the rear-roof part with the rear window are stowed away in the rear region of the vehicle with different directions of curvature. The disadvantage with this stowing-away method, however, is that a considerable amount of the boot space is lost as a result.
In the second stowing-away method, the roof is stowed away with the same direction of curvature. Although this takes up considerably less boot space, the disadvantage, however, is that the kinematics mechanism which is necessary for this stowing-away operation involves relatively high outlay and, in part, also makes it necessary for the vehicle tail to be increased in height.
Vehicles with swing-action roofs are also beset by the, problem where the wind flowing against such roofs produces such large forces that the roof parts are raised at their separating line, this resulting in increased wind noise.
If the rear window of a vehicle is to be disengaged from the rear-roof part and provided with its own frame, then the rear window can be rotated separately from the rear-roof part and, during the stowing-away movement of the roof parts, pivoted such that it is stowed away in the same direction and/or with the same direction of curvature as the front-roof part. This means that considerably less boot space is taken up than when the roof parts are stowed away in different directions.
Such a roof structure is beset by a further problem, however, namely that the stiffness of the rear roof half or of the rear-roof part is lost since it no longer provides a fixed connection between the lateral vehicle pillars, e.g. the C-pillars, and the associated left and right kinematics mechanisms. Furthermore, in order to realize the necessary sealing pressure, the rear window must be fixedly connected to the kinematics mechanisms and/or the vehicle pillars at a number of points.